Door opening mechanism



May 31, 1949. K. WILLIAMS DOOR OPENING MECHANISM Fil ed May 12, 1945 Bevan/0r.-

m w H Patented May 31, 1949 35472934 DBQR QPENENG MECHANISM Keith Williams; Buffalo, N. LY. ApplicattiDn May k2,, 1945, SeriM'iNoSflMfllB 243mm. (01.;292-241) i1 ThlslinlleniionfilflaiifisEiDMPIOVBHIEHllSLiIEdQBI operators especially designedztornisezimoomiactionzwith the-doors of reirigerator :ears, ztrueks, andeotherwehicles.

invention is concerned :tnore particularly with the-type-of door operatingsmechanismtwhich is --=rn'ounted -upon thedioor and. whichiincmdeaa vertiea-lrotary bar having=zat its :upper and iower ends cam means engagingkeepers-onthmdoor frame and lra ving i nireri'ne'diate its ends an operating handlewhich in close'd positiont lies across the face of-the a diacent wal-l of the vehicle it used for-a-singie door or-across theiaoe ofi'the eompardondoor if need tor "a pair ot doors. The handle -swings horizontally itl-n'oug'h about I 180 acrossthe-fa'ce of the-other door npomwloich it is mounted in unlocking andppening'theiioor. The handle I is pivoted on the operating bar rte-swing downwardly-into para 1lel-=relation: -tothe bar. It is customary for theoperatorwhen-unlocking door*'to-swing the handle into contact with the face of the door and then allow it to drop into vertical hanging position; this-fleeing done usually with 11a .goodrdeal :of; foroavavith the result-that the door becomes dented and otherwiserdamaged and the finishbecomes-marredeandscraped and presents an unsightly appearance.

The object of my inventiontis to operating structure of handle is prevented from comlng in contact witth the "f ace of door-duri-ng the operation-of: the handle, makingaitrimpossihie::to::damage or mar the doonface.

Another object is to "provide a. stopeor'zlin'iit device on the bearing or'bracketcasting-imposition to cooperate with the crank arm on the provideaadoor operating bar for limiting the movement to the handle in such manner that the handle cannot contact the face of the door.

Another object is to provide a stop device of the character which requires the modification of only the bearing casting of the present door operating thisitypegln whichtthe 2 lower portion of 112118 inh -m :means ..;-.illushated-tin Fi 3.1;

:Fig. *is' a transverse section on ;.1in -;3--'3 pi Fi :2,simludingatheetace z one of the doors to illustrate the :relationof the Operating 1erer..-or handl thereto :in open .aIlOfiitiDni -=Fig. .41s asecticnal snow on the :line .;.4-..-4-,.of Eig- 22mm with thez'partsiiliustrated inposition corresponding togclosed position of thedoorsgtand -;Fig.';5 is a gbottom-plan-view of the structure showminzti'ig- :2, :the :partstoeing in position corv responding-lilo:open'position. 10f the-door.

the drawm lidesignatesxthe mail of :the car $39 vehicle, ;.provided.-mvith1:rthe .nsual .door openingiltwhichis closed by a-spair ofihingedrdoors Scene 14. sThe'wall. .lnOf the camnay.v be provided as risualmith av frame .WhichfiSwlOundS-the door opening. The hineedrdoorsare .ofthe usual design, having toeveled :edges .Whi'ch cooperate with the. correspondinglyheveledz edges .of .the frame. whewxneetin edges of the two doors are also heveled, and @lllDf ibht-l cooperatin Jenga-ging faces ofsatheedoorsiand door frame aretprovided with the-usual? sill'afling material. ='Ihe door 3-is the first: :closedrthe beveled edges being so arranged the-t the rinner-;.,e,dge-of the door- 4 overlaps the v inner-sedge:otthedoomfi. :Asshown, each-door mechanisms and which is thereby interchangeable with the bearing castings of door operating mechanism already in use.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description in connection with the accompanyin drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a pair of mounted hinged doors illustrating my'improvement in connection therewith;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational View of the isisnpported'xby a pairof hinges ii of the usual type employed in -connection with doubledoors of ref ri-gerator' units. to be understood'that-while the door operating mechanism is 'illustrated i-n connection =with:-a pair -ofdoors, it-isequally ap plicable toa single -'-door; in-:which :case the doond is -to' be regarded as representing 'thecar waillor the frame for theidoor 4. It isusual in structures ofthi's- 'kind to have*the- -tace of the door or doors flush with the frame or vehicle wall so that the faces of the door and frame lie in the same plane. If double doors are used, the door 3 is provided with a protecting wear plate 8 at the lowermost inner corner, over which a pivoted latch member 9 is adapted to engage to hold the door closed.

The usual top and bottom keepers l0 and l I are secured to the frame I adjacent the top and bottom margins of the door, and each of these keepers have cam slots adapted to be engaged by cam means on the ends of the door operating bar to force the door closed or release the door upon the rotation of the operating bar. The operating bar I! is disposed vertically on the outer face of the door 4 adjacent the inner vertical margin the vertical operating bar intermediate the ends thereof, so that the handle, if free, will swing downwardly from its horizontal position indicated in Fig. 1, to a vertical position substantially parallel to the operating bar. In the closed position of the door, the handle l extends horizontally and is locked in position by the usual locking and sealing means Ilia.

In the usual construction, the handle lever and the bar 12 upon which it is mounted can be swung through an arc of substantally 180 and actually into contact with the face of the opposite door 4 in order to release the cam mechanism from the keepers so that the door 4 may be swung open. The handle lever is then allowed to swing downwardly in vertical position in order not to interfere with the full opening'of the door. The actual contact, most of the time forcefully with the surface of the door and the swing downwardly of the handle lever, damages the face of the door by denting it and by chipping and scraping off the finish. In accordance with my invention, this difficulty is overcome in a simple yet very effective manner. The cam devices which engage the keepers l0 and H are mounted on the ends of the operating bar l2 and project above and below the upper and lower margins respectively of the door 4. These cam devices are in the form of crank arms I! having lugs or crank pins I8 which are offset with respect to the axis of rotation of the bar so that their engagement with the cam slots of the keepers forces the door outwardly or inwardly as the case may be. This is indicated by the dotted line 1 in Fig. 3 which represents the face of the frame and line 6 represents the plane of the outwardly swung door.

The bar 12 itself is rectangular in section but has round portions I9 in the form of forked castings riveted to the ends of the bar and rotatably mounted in the bearing brackets l3 and I l. The crank arms I! and their lugs l8 are integrally formed on the ends of these forked castings. The bearing brackets l3 and I4 comprise base members and cap members 2|, together forming cylindrical bearings for the rounded end members IQ of the bar. These bearing parts are usually made as castings and provided with flanges by which they may be bolted or otherwise secured to the face of the door. They are positioned on the door with their ends adjacent the upper and lower margins of the door. The cap members 2| are provided with integral lugs or abutment stops 22 which project beyond the margins of the door and into the path of the crank arms I! and are adapted to be engaged by the crank arms. These parts are so arranged and proportioned that the crank arms strike the abutment stops 22 just before the handle lever 15 reaches contact with the face of the door, as indicated by the position of the handle as dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus preventing the handle from striking the door and without interfering with the full swing of the handle in the operation of the door mechanism. The provision of these abutment stops thus solves the problem without requiring the redesign of any of the other parts of the mechanism. The cap members 2| are thus interchangeable with the cap members of door operating mechanisms already in use. As appears from the drawings, the stop 22 of the lower bearing bracket is integral with the left hand flange of the lower cap 2| (Figs. 1 and 2) and the stop 22 of the upper bearing bracket is integral with the left hand flange of the upper cap 2| (Fig. 1).

I claim:

1. A bearing cap member for a rotary bar and crank arm door operating mechanism, said bearing cap being adapted to be fixed to the door to form at least a part of the bearing surface for the rotary bar and said bearing cap being provided with an integral axially extending lug adapted to project beyond the margin of the door and into the path of said crank arm thereby to form a stop to prevent excessive rotation of said operating mechanism.

2. In a rotation limiting stop means for the rotary operating bar of a door fastener carried on a door, the combination with a radially extending keeper engaging crank arm on one end of said bar disposed beyond the outer edge of said door; of a bearing bracket in which said bar is rotatably journaled; a stop lug integral with said bearing bracket and projecting therefrom into the path of rotary movement of said crank arm to be engaged thereby and arrest rotary movement of said bar in one direction.

KEITH WILLIAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,439,859 Ballard Dec. 26, 1922 1,469,719 Dobson Oct. 2, 1923 2,316,359 Olander Apr. 13, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 53,910 Austria Dec. 10, 1910 

